Bridgestone is responding to criticism from the Coffee County Sheriff, who accused the company of forcing workers to call the sheriff’s office to get notes for excused absences from work during last week’s severe winter weather.
Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin (pictured above) wrote an open letter to the tire giant on his Facebook page on January 19. It said:
Dear Bridgestone,
You have several hundred employees that live in Coffee Co. I would like for you to walk outside and see the ice on the ground. I would ask you to watch the local news. I would like you to “troll Facebook “ and see all the conversations about the roads in all of Middle Tennessee. I would ask that you, the company, the administrators, the superintendent, the supervisor or whoever is in charge up there to stop having your employees contact the Sheriffs Department for a letter that said employee cannot make it to work. Most of all, if your employee says they can’t get out of their driveway then believe them! If not,do like we do at the Coffee Co Sheriff’s Office. We go get them and bring them to work. With all do respect please stop having the employee contact me to send excuse letters! I lost a life long friend today because of a wreck.
Sheriff Chad Partin
Coffee County Sheriff
But in a statement to The Tennessee Star Thursday, Bridgestone denied the allegations made by the sheriff.
“Due to hazardous road conditions across multiple counties for several days now, Bridgestone had already excused absences for those teammates who could not travel safely to work during the recent winter storm,” said corporate spokeswoman Emily Weaver. “At Bridgestone Americas, the safety and well-being of our teammates, contractors and visitors is our most important value. Negotiated agreements have long been in place between Bridgestone and the United Steelworkers, which address the impacts of inclement weather and related attendance policies and processes at our Warren County Truck and Bus Radial Tire Plant.”
The reported death toll from last week’s winter weather in Tennessee is 27.
The Tennessee Valley Authority grid was stressed during the storms, and the organization encouraged Tennesseeans to ration power.
This week, warmer temperatures prevailed, reprieving the state.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X / Twitter.
Background Photo “Bridgestone Tires Factory” by そらみみ. CC BY-SA 4.0.
